Reading ASSIST® Institute, a nonprofit organization, helps children with reading disabilities unlock the written word by training tutors and teachers in a phonetic-based, multisensory structured langugae reading curriculum inspired by the Orton-Gillingham approach to reading instruction.

Mission:

Reading ASSIST® Institute's mission is to improve the literacy skills of children at risk for reading failure.

Vision:

Reading ASSIST® Institute will be a premier Multisensory Structured Language (MSL) Training and Resource Center dedicated to helping children to learn to read.

Goals:

Reading ASSIST® Institute focuses on the following goals to accomplish its mission primarily in Delaware and the adjacent areas of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland.

To strengthen the curriculum

To deliver quality programs

To increase public awareness and influence public policy

To ensure that RAI has the necessary funds to fulfill its mission

To administer the program with integrity

Reading ASSIST® RAPS Intervention is.....

Multisensory -Reading ASSIST® differs from other reading programs in that it incorporates the sense of touch and muscle memory to augment the hearing of sounds and seeing of letters. It is this kinestheic component that enhances memory. For example, students use stiff arm writing, trace bumby letters to help with letter formation, and write in sand trays.

Intensive - Linking together the three pathways of learning, the auditory, visual, and kinestheic, gives the Reading ASSIST® Program its intensity.

Systematic - Reading ASSIST® teaches the structure and logic of language which would otherwise be obscure to our students. Stories about the alphabet explain rules in a way that is easy to remember. Games, songs, and other right-brained activities make reinforcement fun.

Sequential - Participants in the Reading ASSIST® program are asked only to read and spell words that contain phonograms which they learned through the multisensory approach. As more phonograms are taught, the structure of the words will become more complex.